We’ve missed it… and that’s a shame. If we had known about it sooner, we surely would have challenged YOU to do it as well, and perhaps accepted a little challenge to ourselves as well.
At the time of posting this article, it is November 29th and Prevention Magazine’s 30 Days of Superfoods challenge is all but over (it was slated for the month of November).
The challenge was very simple: eat only superfoods for 30 days. The magazine even provides a list of approved superfoods that, if you click on each one, you are taken to stories of people incorporating those foods into their diet as well as recipes that give you all sorts of great options for even the most discerning of palettes.
Every type of superfood they recommend comes with additional information. It’s fantastic (my only critique of the site is that it’s absolutely stuffed with annoying ads).
What first caught my eye was the section on cashews. You might not know, but you can make almost anything out of cashews: cashew butter, cashew milk, cashew cheese, cashew bread. If you wanted, say, lasagna, you could make the cheese and noodles out of cashews.
Most foods aren’t quite that diverse, but with a little creativity, you’d be surprised with what you can do with even the most random of foods.
Two AskDrErnst challenges
We may have missed Prevention Magazine’s fantastic challenge, BUT I can still issue a couple of my own, because I found this to be incredibly inspiring and I think we should all benefit from it.
The cool thing? I’m only issuing two-week challenges. While 30 days is great, you can actually get measurable, noticeable results in your health in only two weeks. I’ve seen it a thousand times.
And this still allows you to be done with the challenge well before Christmas or New Years.
So, without further adieu…
Challenge 1 (the easy one):
For the next two weeks, you make absolutely sure to source your food and keep it 100% clean (or as close to it as possible). That means only:
- Grass fed beef
- Free range chicken
- Wild-caught fish
- Organic fruits and vegetables
- NO PROCESSED FOODS WHATSOEVER
- NO SUGAR
It is a very simple challenge. There isn’t all that much to wrap your head around. For many, it might be difficult if they are (for all intents and purposes) addicted to food additives, particularly sugar. But that’s exactly why you should do it.
My second challenge becomes a bit more complicated, and it is rooted (though not verbatim) in a protocol I very often give to patients.
Challenge 2 (the REAL challenge):
- Days 1-4: Only grass-fed bone broth. Go down to Healthy Home Market or a Farmer’s Market in your area, get a couple of big grass fed beef bones, throw them in your crockpot with water, let simmer for at least 12 hours, then drink that bone broth. Refill when necessary, but nothing else (except water) for 4 straight days.
- Days 5-8: Only clean proteins. Eat as much as you want of 1) grass fed beef, 2) free range chicken, 3) wild-caught fish, 4) free range organic eggs.
- Days 9-12: Clean proteins, exactly as above, except you can include fermented foods. This includes sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, lassi, grass fed and sugar-free yogurt, etc.
- Days 13-14: Eat proteins, as specified above, fermented foods, as specified above, and green vegetables. ONLY GREEN! That means spinach, broccoli, kale, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens, arugula, etc.
You will be amazed how something like this completely resets your relationship to food. You’ll find you no longer crave sugar, bread, pasta, crackers or any processed food. You’ll sort of want to continue more than two weeks, and when something unhealthy crosses your path, at the very least you will think twice before you eat it.
The truth is, you can make big changes in your life very quickly. Most people want this but they don’t actually believe it’s true. Is life a plodding, consistent pathway that takes grit and determination over time? Yes, it absolutely is. But can you experience times of explosive growth? You bet, and all you have to do is choose it.
